Story of Nageshwar Jyotirlinga

 ||नागेशं दारुकावने||

Nageshwar Jyotirlinga Temple

Nageshwar Jyotirlinga is the eighth jyotirlinga of the supreme God Shiva. The meaning of the word “Nageshwar” is “The Lord of the Serpents”. The Nageshwar Jyotirlinga is located on the route between Dwarka and Byet Dwarka island on the coast of Saurashtra in the coastal state of Gujarat. The Shivling in Nageshwar is one of the swyambhu Shivlings in the world located in an underground sanctum.

Lord Shiva is worshipped here in the form of Nageshwar and Devi Parvati as Nageshwari. The temple is built in the same Chaulukya style of architecture as the Somnath Jyotirlinga. The temple complex also has a 25m tall statue of Lord Shiva sitting in meditation. The Nageshwar Shivling has grooves on it which make it look like 3-Mukhi rudraksha.

LEGEND: 

Nageshwar Jyotirlinga Shikhar

          The legend of this Jyotirlinga starts with the demoness Daruka, who, with her intense penance obtained the boon from Devi Parvati that she would become the mistress (स्वामिनी) of the forest where she did the penance. Devi Parvati blessed Daruka and named the forest as Darukavana. Since Daruka was an asura, she began to do Tamsic practices.

 She declared, “I hate those persons who always show laziness by worshipping Gods but never do any hard-work. I will hold such persons, captive and make them do work.” Saying this, she ordered her soldiers to capture any person they find sitting and doing nothing or just praying to God. The soldiers captured many people and forced them into labour. She prohibited anyone from worshipping God as she perceived it as laziness.

Nageshwar Town

Meanwhile, being the mistress of the Daruka Forest, the demoness Daruka moved the entire forest and re-established it in the ocean. Her soldiers bought the peasants to Darukavana and the demoness Daruka ordered them to construct a town in the forest. The peasants in fear began chanting Lord Shiva’s name. They were flogged, humiliated, beaten, and even tortured. 

But there was a Vaishya named Supriya who was an ardent devotee of Lord Shiva. He applied Bhasma over his body, wore Rudraksha beads, and would eat only after worshipping his Aaradhaya, Lord Shiva. He challenged Daruka’s reputation by defying her orders. He sat there and began chanting Lord Shiva’s name. He was brutally beaten by Daruka’s soldiers but did not stop chanting Lord Shiva’s name. Seeing his devotion, the others also joined him.

25 m Tall Statue of Lord Shiva at Nageshwar

 The demoness Daruka could not bear this. She ordered her soldiers, “Burn these foolish people alive! They have dared to disobey the mighty Daruka.” The soldiers obeyed her mistress and gathered the peasants in a circle and lit the fire. But the fire could not even touch them. Seeing this Daruka’s furiousness knew no bounds. She unsheathed her sword and rushed towards the innocent peasants to behead them. 

Just as she moved forward with her unsheathed sword, the skies began to thunder as if something terrible is going to happen. Her sword just vanished in thin air. Just as she was contemplating what just happened, Lord Shiva appeared before her and the innocent peasants. Daruka was stunned. She straightaway thundered, “Mahadev! Your intervention like this is not justified. All that is happening is due to the boon of your wife, Devi Parvati.” 

Scenic View of Nagehswar Jyotirlinga

Her comment infuriated Mahadev. He thundered, “Nothing is happening according to the boon. All this is happening due to the misuse of the boon that Parvati gave you! Release all the peasants right now or else the results will be destructive for you!” Daruka, trying to justify her actions, said “Mahadev! I accept that I have tortured these people, but you only tell that people now waste all their time in worship whereas the target of life is doing your Karma. Due to this, they become lazy. I am only trying to remove their laziness.” 

Daruka marched forward. Lord Shiva threw a ball of fire as a warning to Daruka. Seeing this, Daruka began to call out Devi Parvati, pleading for help. Devi Parvati appeared, listening to her devotee’s call for help. Daruka began to rant about how Mahadev is obstructing her path for the welfare of the world. Devi Parvati was enraged. She said, “My boon has not been insulted by Mahadev but by you! You have used my boon as a means of exploitation. You have used it as a means of establishing your supremacy.”

Lord Nageshwar Aarti

Hearing this, Daruka realized her folly. She was at a loss of words. She apologized to Devi Parvati and Mahadev for her acts. Mahadev smiled and said, “Hard work is only for filling your tummies and it should be limited to that only. The entire goal of life is not to fill your tummies but to come closer to God which is possible only with the development of one’s soul. The soul’s development is possible only through Chintan (concern for others), madad(helping others), Sangeet(singing songs of God) and Satsang(spiritual discourse). This development of soul salvages humanity and leads the person towards Godhood.”

The Lord continued “How did you forget that to become powerful and obtain the boon from Parvati you also did a penance doing nothing but only sitting. Will you assume your penance as an example of laziness? The efforts we put into hard-work are less as compared to the mental and spiritual upliftment of a soul. For advancing spiritually one has to concentrate fully on his/her Aaradhaya.”

Nageshwar Jyotirlinga

Lord Shiva also gave an important life lesson to Supriya. “There are four pillars of life. They are Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. All these four pillars play an equal and important role in the life of a human being.  Sticking only to dharma and neglecting the other three pillars is not acceptable and even the Gods do not accept it. God only helps those who have the courage to help themselves first.”

Lord Shiva declared, “This region (Darukavan) came into existence because of Parvati. Therefore I will also stay here in the form of Nageshwar. I will guide and inspire people to do their best in life.” Lord Shiva is worshipped here in the form of Nageshwar and Devi Parvati in the form of Nageshwari.

Lord Nageshwar and Devi Nageshwari

DARSHAN AND AARTI TIMINGS:

05:00 AM- Temple opening Hours

05:30 AM- Morning Aarti

06:00 AM to 12:00 Noon- Abhishek Timings

12:00 Noon- Bhog Aarti

12:30 PM- Temple Closing Hours

03:00 PM- Temple Reopens

04:00 PM- Shringaar Darshan

07:00 PM- Shringaar Aarti

09:00 PM- Shayan Aarti

09:30 PM- Temple Closing Hours

How to Reach:

How to reach Dwarka by Air

Jamnagar Airport

Jamnagar airport is the nearest domestic airport, which links Dwarka with all the main cities of the country. It is situated at a distance of 137 km from this holy city. One can get frequent flights for different destinations from here. International travellers can come down to Dwarka through the Mumbai International Airport. From Jamnagar, one can take a cab and can arrive at the enchanting city of Dwarka.

How to reach Dwarka by Rail

Dwarka Railway Station

Jamnagar airport is the nearest domestic airport, which links Dwarka with all the main cities of the country. It is situated at a distance of 137 km from this holy city. One can get frequent flights for different destinations from here. International travellers can come down to Dwarka through the Mumbai International Airport. From Jamnagar, one can take a cab and can arrive at the enchanting city of Dwarka.

How to reach Dwarka by Road

Dwarka Expressway

Dwarka railway station located in the Ahmedabad - Okha rail route and is linked to other main railheads of the regions. One can easily reach the city without facing any kind of difficulty. The tourists can get full information regarding how to reach Vishakhapatnam from many other sources as well.